The Working Families Tax Cuts, enacted through H.R. 1, expanded education choice in the tax code by creating a new federal scholarship tax credit and broadening how families can use 529 savings. That is a meaningful shift in the right direction. Families need more than one path. Parents should be able to choose the school, tutoring, or support that fits their child instead of being boxed into a one-size-fits-all system. A New Federal Tax Credit for Education Freedom One of th

Washington’s priorities are badly out of balance. As Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said in Senate Finance Committee testimony , the federal government allocates about $6 to seniors for every $1 it allocates to children under 18. That would be troubling enough on its own. It is worse because children are now the poorest cohort in America, while seniors as a group are no longer. Washington is allocating more to the politically pow

One of the biggest success stories of the Working Families Tax Cuts was permanent full business expensing for the business assets covered by the law. That reform strengthened investment by letting businesses deduct costs upfront instead of dragging those deductions out over years. Now the next step is clear. Policymakers should move toward full expensing for business structures too, including multifamily housing, factories, offices, warehouses, and other buildings that help t

Democrats rarely stop at taxing the rich. They start there. That is the real lesson from tax history. A tax is sold to the public as a narrow hit on a small group of wealthy households. Then the threshold comes down, the rates go up, inflation does the rest, and the burden spreads far beyond the original target. That pattern has played out before, and it is playing out again now. A New York Example Shows the Problem Bloomberg recently reported that Zohran Mamdani wants to sl

For too many Americans, buying a home has become more complicated, more expensive, and more frustrating than it needs to be. That is why President Trump’s March 13, 2026 executive order matters. Working with HUD Secretary Scott Turner, the administration took a step toward making the homebuying process simpler, faster, and more modern for creditworthy borrowers who are ready to purchase a home. The most useful way to understand this order is not as a final answer to the housi

The death tax remains one of the most destructive taxes in the federal code. It punishes families at the moment of loss and threatens the survival of family farms and small businesses that took decades to build. The “Working Families Tax Cuts” law delivers important relief by making the death tax exemption permanent and protecting families from a massive tax hike that would have taken effect if Congress had failed to act. Permanent Protection From the Death Tax Under the “Wor

The IRS is the nation’s tax collector. It should not also be the nation’s tax preparer. When the same agency that collects taxes also calculates what you owe, a clear conflict of interest arises. The incentives point in only one direction: higher tax bills and less trust in the fairness of the system. That is why proposals to expand the IRS “Direct File” system are misguided. Americans should not have to rely on the tax collector to prepare the very returns that determine how

President Trump’s sweeping tariff policy is now facing problems on two fronts: the courts and the economy. The Supreme Court of the United States recently ruled that key tariffs imposed under emergency authority were illegal , raising serious questions about the administration’s use of executive power to impose broad import taxes. At the same time, a federal trade court has ordered the government to begin refunding tariff payments to businesses , potentially returning billio

Prominent conservative leaders are increasingly calling attention to how large nonprofit hospitals are exploiting the federal 340B drug discount program to enrich themselves at taxpayer expense. What began as a program intended to help vulnerable patients afford medications has instead become a lucrative revenue stream for large hospital systems that purchase drugs at steep discounts and bill insurers and taxpayers full price. Critics argue that the program now benefits hospi

College sports work best when the rules are clear and the government stays out of the way. Heavy-handed federal intervention would turn college athletics into another Washington-run bureaucracy. That would empower regulators, enrich trial lawyers, and hand influence to Big Labor, all while making the system more confusing for schools and athletes alike. The better solution is simple: establish clear national rules that everyone understands and follows. That is exactly what th

Raising children has never been cheap. From childcare to adoption to paid leave, many families face significant costs during life’s most important moments. The “Working Families Tax Cuts” respond directly to these challenges by lowering the cost of child and dependent care and providing meaningful tax relief to parents. At the center of these reforms are two major improvements that strengthen financial support for families: a permanent expansion of the Child Tax Credit and ne

President Joe Biden’s so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was sold as a major deficit-reduction and drug-savings package. The numbers now point in the opposite direction. A new analysis from the Paragon Health Institute finds that Medicare Part D spending has surged since the law’s enactment. Instead of producing immediate savings, federal drug outlays have increased. What Was Promised At the time of passage, supporters argued the IRA would significantly reduce federal d

Early IRS data show the typical tax refund this year is running roughly 10 to 15 percent higher than at the same point last year. That increase is not random. It reflects pro-worker tax policy that is putting real money back into household budgets. A recent report from CBS News highlights how Americans plan to use their refunds. Many are paying down debt, building emergency savings, or covering essential expenses. The reason refunds are larger is straightforward. The “Workin

More than 4.8 million veterans work in overtime-eligible jobs. About 1.4 million of them regularly put in overtime hours. When those men and women stay late, take extra shifts, or work weekends, they should keep more of what they earn. The “Working Families Tax Cuts” make that possible. This reform ensures that veterans who go the extra mile on the job are not punished by higher federal taxes on their overtime pay. After serving their country, they deserve a tax code that res

Washington has spent years talking about housing affordability. Here is a simple, bipartisan reform that would actually help. This week, the Center for a Free Economy organized and led a coalition letter to Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune urging immediate action on H.R. 1340 and S. 3332, the “More Homes on the Market Act.” The legislation fixes an outdated tax rule that is quietly choking off housing supply and making it harder for middle-class fami

The “Working Families Tax Cuts” deliver real relief to the Americans who work the longest hours and carry the heaviest load. At the center of that relief is the “no tax on overtime” tax cut. Under this policy, overtime workers can exclude up to $12,500 per year in overtime pay from their taxable income, or up to $25,000 per year for married couples. That means the extra hours worked on nights and weekends are no longer fully subject to federal income tax. Work is rewarded. Ef

The Center for a Free Economy supports H.R. 1778, the “American Innovation Act,” introduced by Cong. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) in the U.S. House. This legislation expands first-year tax relief for new businesses and removes an outdated barrier in the tax code that makes it harder to get started. Entrepreneurs take risks, create jobs, and drive growth. The tax code should support that effort, not slow it down. What H.R. 1778 Would Do Under current law, new businesses may deduct o

The One Big Beautiful Budget Act moves federal policy back toward growth, work, and fiscal discipline. Anchored by the Working Families Tax Cuts, the law improves incentives across the economy while pairing tax relief with meaningful spending restraint. According to the Congressional Budget Office’s latest outlook , the economy strengthens in the near term as a result of the reconciliation law. After payrolls grew by an average of just 70,000 jobs per month in 2025, CBO proje

On Thursday, the Senate HELP committee will consider a series of bills, and entertain amendments. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) will offer several amendments to impose socialized medicine on American patients in the area of prescription drugs. Senators committed to making healthcare more affordable using proven free market solutions should reject his amendments. Sanders Amendment 5 would permit anyone to steal the patent for any prescription drug the government deems too e

President Trump used his State of the Union address to make a clear commitment: protect Social Security and Medicare while expanding access to private retirement savings. He also announced a new initiative aimed at workers who lack access to employer-sponsored 401(k) plans. The proposal would give these workers access to the same retirement plan used by nearly 2 million federal civilian employees, every Member of Congress, and members of the military. It would also include a